Ignition system.



A. C. DELORME.

IGNITION SYSTEM. l

Armcnmu FILED mw la. mn

1,258,098. J 5a i Patented Mar.5,191&

T PLL/55 #i a s 55 l ing magneto or coil being UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED C. DE LORME, 0F EASTl RANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO SPLITDOBF ELECTRICAL COMPANY, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

IGNITION SYSTEM.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 5, 1918.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Amman C. Da Lomas. a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, in the count of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ignition Systems, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an electric ignition system suitable for internal combustion engines and more particularly to engines used in aero and hydro planes. Engines used for such purposes are usually equipped with a mainor service magneto for ignition and an auxiliary or starting magneto for the purpose of producing strong sparks at the time of starting.

It is also general practice on aero and hydro planes, where weight is an important item, to use magneto i ition as it has been found to be the ideal ignition after the engine has been started. t is the usual practice in starting engines used for (ying to first see that the service 'magneto is isa led and then turn the crank shaft of the engine over a few times by taking hold of the propeller blades, thus drawing in gas into the engine cylinders and then to operate b hand the auxiliary or starting magneto w ich is not m'echanically connected with the service magneto or any of the driving parts of the en e.

t usuall happens that the engine will stop with arges of combustible gas in one or more of the cylinders which ma be utilized for starting the en 'ne by causing a spark in one of these cylinlers by means of a starting magneto or its equivalent thereby avoiding the nty of turnin the en e over by means of the propeller b ades. owever, if the en e does not start under this condition then it must be turned over to draw in fuel as above outlined.

Various schemes have been proposed for this ignition work, including a service magneto and a starting magneto, or a service magneto and a. battery and vibrating coil in place of the starting magneto, the startconnected to the .service magneto distributor through a trailmg brush, or l. ltartin' g maeto ofthe low tension be used ing connected to the primary o the service magneto there by using the armature of the servicemagneto as an'induction coil.

All of the systems so far proposed are open to various objections, such as large sized starting magneto; the danger of interference of starting magneto with the normal operation of the service magneto; inability of starting magneto to produce sutlicient action on the primary of the service magneto when used in this manner; inabilit of being able to set the timing lever of t e service magneto at its best picking up position, etc.

It is the object of my invention to provide a system which will overcome the above mentioned and other objections at the same time furnish a system which will be relatively cheap and simple in its general make up.

Other and further objects will be ap arent after a study of the following speci cation and drawing, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation of one fo'rm of my ignitionsystem, and

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration on a reduced scale, of a modified form of distributer.

Referring particularly to the drawing, 1 illustrates the service magneto, which is shown as of the inductor`type,'having field poles 2 and 3 with rotors 4: and 5 rotating therebetween on shaft 6. Across the top of the poles 2 and 3 is a yoke of magnetic material 7carrying primary winding 8 and secondary winding 9. 10 is the breaker arm carrying the contact 11 adapted to coperate with a stationary contact 12, the breaker being operated by cam 13 that is fastened to shaft 6. 14 is a starting magneto having parts 15 to 26 inclusive corresponding to' parts 2 to 13 inclusive of the service magneto 1. 27 illustrates a switch used for switching the starting and service magnetos into their respective circuits as well as for cutting out the service magneto for-the purpose of stopping the e. The outside end of the primary 8 of e service magneto is connected to the contact stud 28 of the switch 27. The breaker arm 10, carryin contact 11, is connected to the contact stug 29 while contact 1 2 is connected to the frame work of the magneto or ground. The outside end of the primary 21 of the starting magneto is connected to the contact 30. The breaker arm 28, 4carrying nected to the switch contact 31, stationary contact 25'being grounded. The connections contact 24, is conat the breakers, as shown, may be reversed, if desired. The outside end of the secondary 22 of the starting magneto is connected to the switch contact 32 while the outside end 5 of the secondary 9 of the service magneto is connected to a spindle 33 which constitutes a part of its distributer block 34 which is made up of any suitable insulating material. It will be noted that the spindle 33 l passes through the outer face of the block 34 and has a clamping nut 35 to hold it in position thereon, the spindle 33 being insulated by the insulator 36 and bushing 37. The outer end of the spindle 33 is connected to l switch contact 38; while switch contact 39 is connected to binding post 40 of the distributer 34. The switch arm carries a sector 41 that is adapted to bridge from contact 32 to 39 or from 38 to 39. The same switch arm is adapted to operate a sector 42 that, in its various positions, is'adapted to connect the studs 29-30 and 31 or the switch studs 28 and 43 which is cross connected to contact `29 or contacts 44 and 45; the first of which is cross connected to contact 28 and the last of which is connected to the ground.

The switch 27 is shown with sectors 41 and 42 in starting position in which it will be noted that the seconda 22 of the starting aomagneto 14 is connecte from contact 32 to 39 and to terminal 40 on the distributer block 34. On the inner face of the distributer block 34 is a metal segment 46 of suitable size and shape from which the brush 47 carried by the distributer finger 48 connects the current to a metal insert 49, the other end of which carries a brush 50 that is adapted to make contact at the proper intervals with a row of terminals molded in the block 34, two of which are shown at 51 and 52. Another 'set of brushes and inserts corresponding t0 47-49 and. 50, but which in the sectional view are not shown, are adapted to collect current from the piece 46 and to distributethis current to another row of contact terminals, two onl being shown at 53 and 54. The distributing finger 48 is carried on a distributer gear 55 Which is supported and driven in any suitable manner, usually by a gear wheel on shaft 6. The details of the distributer 34 constitute no part of my present invention and are thus only briefly referred to in order to show one method of distribution and the connection of the hi h tension lead from the switch 27 to the distributer.' The particular type of distributer shown is adapted for'an 8 cylinder engine, althou hv it will be understood any suitable type o distributer may be used for the purpose.

Going back now to the position of the sector 42 corresponding to the position of sector 41 in the startin position of switch 27, it will be seen that t e primary 21` of the start- 85 ing magneto is connected to the breaker 23 through contact 30, sector 42, contact'31 and thence through the contacts 24 and 25 to ground; thus making a circuit of the said primary winding. It is also to be noted that primary 21 is connected through contact 30, 7o sector 42, contact 29 to the breaker 10 and through the contacts 11 and 12 of the service magneto; so that as long as the service magneto breaker is in its closed position no impulse will be produced in the primary of the starting magneto no matter how fast the starting magneto is turned and consequently no matter how fast the circuit breaker arm 23 is epened and closed. It will be understood that the service magneto is so installed on the engine that when the timing lever is in full retard position and the cylinder, for example, on which the magneto is timed is at the upper part of the compression stroke, the breaker points 11 and 12 are just opening, hence any movement of the engine piston beyond this point will hold the breaker points 11and 12 open for some distance. This is the position under which the engine may be started on compression after the piston has gone over dead center. At this time any turning by hand of the starting magneto, which is not controlled entirely by its own breaker arm 23, will give sparks from its secondary directly to the distributer 34 of the service magneto. Assuming that there is a combustible charge of gas in the particular cylinder, this will be fired and the engine and the service magneto will begin to rotate However, it will be noted that no matter how fast the starting magneto is turned the time of producing sparks is controlled by the breaker of the service magneto so that the high tension current delivered by the starting magneto to the distributer is perfectly timed therein. After the engine has attained proper speed or condition of runnin the switch 27 is thrown to the running posltion which on the drawing is marked Run. In this position of the switch 2 7 the sector 42 is across the contacts 28 and 43 thereby closing the primary circuit 8 of the service magneto through its own breaker points 11 and 12 and the starting magneto has its primary circuit open en- 1 15 tirely and the sector 41 has been moved to cross the contact 38 and 39 so that the secondary 9 of the service magneto furnishes sparking current to the distributer 34.

Fig. 2 shows a modified form of distrb- 120 uter in which an annular rin 56 is set in the distributer finger 57 which istributes current to the plug terminals in a manner similar to that heretofore described, but current from the switch contact 39 is connected to 125 a terminal post 58 which carries a brush 59 adapted to run on the disk 56.

It will be seen from the above description that the startin magneto used in my system may be turned as fast and as long as desired without any danger of getting an interference of the sparks, and therefore can be geared up or driven in a manner so as to produce and deliver very effective sparking current directly to the plugs through the distributer of the service magneto which is adapted to be switched into service at the will of the operator.

I may use some other auxiliar source of sparking current in place of t e starting magneto the same being controlled by the switch and breaker of the service magneto or even the service magneto itself may be replaced by another source of service current, it being understood that the control of the system will be substantially as set forth, and while I have shown an adaptation of my system to a magneto of the Dixie type yet it will be understood that it may be applied to any other type of magneto and that various modifications and alterations may be made, from the diagrammatic-illustration shown, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In an ignition system, thc combination of a service magneto having a distributer for distributing current to s arking plugs, a starting magnetoI for de ivering sparking current to said plugs, a switch for interconnecting the service and starting magnetos whereby' the current from the startin magneto is sent to said plugs by way Iof t e distributer on the service magneto at intervals under control of the service magneto.

2. In an ignition system, the combination of a service magneto having primary and secondary windings, a circuit breaker for controlling the circuit of said primary winding, a starting magneto having primary and secondary windingsand a circuit breaker for interrupting said rimary winding, a distributer. and a switdlzi for switchin the secondary of the service magneto out o circuit and the secondary of the starting magneto into the distributer circuit` said switch also servin to switch the said circuit breakers in para lel relationship, for the purpose described.

3. In an ignition system, the combination of a service magneto having primary and secondary windings, a circuit breaker for controlling the circuit of said primary winding, a starting magneto having primary and secondary windings and a circuit breaker for interrupting said primary winding, a distributer, anda switch for switching the secondary of the service magneto out of circuit and the secondary of the starting magneto into the distributer circuit` said switch also servin to switch the said circuit breakers in para el relationship, and further serving to switch the secondary winding of the starting magneto out of the distributer circuit and the secondary of the service magneto into the distributer circuit at the saine time breakingthe parallel connection between the two circuit breakers.

4. In an ignition system, the combination of a service magneto having primary and secondary windings, a circuit breaker for controlling the circuit of said primary winding, a starting magneto having primary and secondary windings and a circuit breaker for interrupting said primary winding, a distributer, and a switch for switchin the secondary of the service magneto out o circuit and the secondary of the starting magneto into the distributer circuit, said switch also servin to switch the said circuit breakers in paral el relationship, and further serving to switch the secondary winding of the starting magnetoout of the distributer circuit and the secondary of the service magneto into the distributer circuit at the same time breaking the parallel connection between the two circuit breakers, said switch further serving to open the secondary circuit of the service ma neto and to ground the primary for disabling the said magneto.

5. In an ignition system, the combination of a source of service sparking current, a circuit breaker for controlling the time of delivery of the sparking current, a distributer for distributing the sparking current to spark plugs, an auxili source of sparking current, ,a switch for switching into the distributer the sparking current from the said auxiliary source in place of the sparking current from the said service source, said switch also serving to switch the said circuit breaker into a circuit whereby it controls the time of delivery of the sparking current from the auxiliary source as and for the purpose described.

6. In-an ignition system, the combination lof a magneto for furnishing service sparking current, a circuit breaker for controlling the time of delivery of the sparkin current of the magneto, a distributer for distributing the sparking current to spark plugs, an auxiliary source of sparking current, a switch for switchin into the distributer the sparking current rom the said auxiliary source in place of the sparking current from the service magneto, said switch also connectin the said circuit breaker into a circuit where y it controls the time of delive of the sparkin current from the auxiliary source as ang for the purpose described.

7. In an ignition system, the combination of a magneto for furnishing service sparking current, a circuit breaker for controlling the time of delivery of the sparking current of the magneto, a distributer for distributing the sparking current to spark plugs, a magneto forfurnishing starting sparking current and havin a circuit breaker for causing said spar 'iig current the service sparkin current out of the'dis-` tributar and switching in the starting sparking current, said switch also connecting the two circuit breakers in parallel relationship whereby the current impulses from the startin magneto are properly timed through the sai distributer.

8. In an ignition system, the combination with a service magneto adapted to be positively driven and having a distributer for distributing sparking current to' spark plugs, and a circuit breaker for timing the passage of the sparking current to said plugs, of a startin magneto adapted b e operated by han and having a circuit breaker for producin sparking current 1mpulses, and a switch or directing the starting magneto current into said distrbuter circuit at the same time connecting the two circuit breakers in parallel, so that the current impulses froin the startin magneto are properly controlled and time for the purose described.

9. In an ignition system, the combination with a means for producing service current adapted to be posltlvel driven and having a. distributer for distri uting sparking current to spark'plugs, and a circuit breaker for tmingthe passa of the sparking cur'- rent to saldplugs o starting means' adapted to be` operated by hand and having a Ycircuit breaker for producing arking current impulses, and a switch or directing the current from the starting means into said distributer circuit at the same time connecting the two said circuit breakers in parallel, so that the current impulses from the starting means are properly controlled and timed, for the purpose described. Y

10. In an ignition system, the combination with a means for producin service current adapted to be positivel driven and having a distributer for distri uting sparking current to spark plugs, and a circuit breaker for timing the p of the sparking current to said plus o starting means adapt,- ed to be operate by hand and having a cir-l cuit breaker for producing sparking current impulses, and a switch for directing the current from the starting means into said distributer circuit at the same time connecting the two said circuit breakers in arallel` so that the current impulses from t e starting means are ropsely controlled and timed, said switc a serving to switch the startin means out of the dstributer circuit and t e service means into the distributer circuit whereby the service means furnishes the sparking current for normal service conditions. 1 4

In witness whereof I aix my signature.

ALFRED c. DE LoRME. 

